The Visit of the Magi

Matthew 2:1-16

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Introduction

We will conclude
our series on the birth of Jesus today by looking at Matthew’s
account of the visit of the magi. Read 2:1-16. As you can tell,
this is not a “fun” story—it is full of intrigue,
deception, murder, etc. The main focus of Matthew’s narrative
is the very different reactions to Jesus—but before we look at
theses reactions closely, I’d like to briefly correct some
popular misconceptions about the magis’ visit.

3 Misconceptions About
Their Visit

When did the magi
visit Jesus?

Our Nativity
Scenes and Christmas cards usually have the magi at the stable along
with the shepherds, presenting their gifts to the Baby as he lay in
the manger. But Matthew tells us this picture is inaccurate.
The magi came to Bethlehem “after” Jesus was born (2:1),
and that by the time they got there Jesus and his parents were in a
“house” (2:11). So their visit came some days after
Jesus’ actual birth, by which time his parents had found more
hospitable lodging.

Who were the magi?

Tradition speaks
of them as kings (“We Three Kings”), but
historical sources disagree. Magi held no position of political
power whatever. They were a caste of educated Persian men who
specialized in philosophy and astronomy/astrology, and who served as
advisors to their kings (see Daniel and his three friends). By the
way, although the song speaks of three magi, we don’t know how
many there were. This is just an inference from their three gifts
(2:11).

How did the “star”
guide the magi to Jesus?

Tradition
(including the above carol) says that the star guided them from their
home to the stable. The
fact that such a dramatic and unusual celestial event is not
mentioned by extra-biblical sources leads many to conclude that this
is a legend/fable. But this is not what the text says. It says that
the magi saw this “star” (the word means virtually any
light in the night sky) from their homeland “in its
rising”—that is, when it rose. They
saw some kind of astronomical occurrence that communicated to them
that a great ruler of the Jews had been born (probably two years
earlier—see 2:7,16). So they traveled to Jerusalem in order to
get more information about this child. Then, when they left
for Bethlehem (about 5 miles SSE from Jerusalem), this same light
reappeared and this time shone in the very direction of Bethlehem.1

What did the magi
see that led them to this conclusion? There are many theories, but
no one knows for sure. Here are two of the most popular theories:

Johann Kepler (the
famous father of modern astronomy) suggested that they saw the great
Triple Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation Pisces. This is a very rare conjunction, occurring only every 805
years. In 1604, Kepler observed it, and calculating backwards,
realized it occurred in 7 BC—about 2 years before Jesus was
born.

These heavenly
bodies had meanings for these astronomers/astrologers. Jupiter stood
for the ruler of the world. Most people equated Jupiter with Caesar
Augustus. Saturn stood for Palestine. Pisces stood for the last
days. So they may have reasoned that this conjunction meant that the
world ruler of the last days was to be born in Palestine (i.e.
Jewish).2

Perhaps another
(supernatural?) light appeared in the midst of this Conjunction to
draw their attention to it, and then later reappeared as they
traveled to Bethlehem (2:9). Chinese astronomical tables seem to
record such a light.3

Michael Molnar, a
non-Christian astronomer, theorizes that they saw a rare double-lunar
eclipse of Jupiter in Aries in 6 BC. He found a Roman coin that links Aries with the Jewish people. Historical sources suggest
that this was interpreted to herald the birth of a divine, immortal
and omnipotent person from the Jews. The second lunar eclipse of
Jupiter would have been stationary “in the east”
on April 17, after which Jupiter went through Aries to become
stationary again on December 19.4

While we don’t know exactly what the magi
saw, we know enough to be confident that this account is not
a legend/fable. Matthew’s account is historical; it be
harmonized with other historical accounts about this period. This historical accuracy is
one feature of the Bible that makes it so different from the
scriptures of other religions. It claims to give us truth about God,
or dilemma with God, and salvation—but it gives this
“spiritual” information in the context of historical
events that we can verify. Why is this so important? Because if we
can trust what the Bible says in areas that we can verify, we have a
reasonable basis to trust its reliability in the spiritual
information it communicates.

3 Ironic Reactions to
Jesus

However, the passage does not focus primarily on
the star or the magi or when they got to Bethlehem. It focuses
rather on the birth of Jesus—and on the ways people reacted to
Jesus as he entered human history. No sooner did he come into the
world than people started reacting to him in very definite and very
ironic ways. These reactions foreshadow the way people would react
to him throughout his life—and the way people still react to
him today. Think of this passage as a mirror into your own
heart—which is your current reaction?

First, there is
Herod’s reaction. When he heard that a king of the Jews had
been born, he became “troubled” (2:3). He launched a
plan to locate this baby so he could destroy him—and when his
plan failed, he became “enraged” (2:16) and wiped out
every male child in the vicinity of Bethlehem. I call Herod’s
reaction hostility. Why was Herod so hostile? Because he was
king of Israel—and there is only room for one king! In order
for him to stay king, the other king would have to go. This reaction
was typical of Herod’s entire reign,5
like so many despotic rulers in our own era (STALIN; MAO; SADDAM).

But there is a
tragic irony to Herod’s reaction. It is paranoid. He
evidently projected his own cruelty and brutality on to Jesus—but
Jesus had come to be a very different kind of king. Would Herod have
to vacate the throne to Jesus? Yes. But did Jesus want to use his
power to exploit and crush Herod? No! Jesus came as God’s
King to call rebellious sinners like Herod to repentance so he could
save them! Jesus is God’s righteous King—but he is also
the Good Shepherd who loves a lost humanity and lays down his life so
they can be forgiven and experience the healing and liberation of his
loving authority. But Herod refused to believe that anyone
(especially the Messiah) would use power any differently than he used
it. So he tried to kill the Messiah—but he failed and died
shortly thereafter as alone and without a friend.6

Have you ever been
hostile to Jesus because you insisted on being king? I sure have.
It is no coincidence that the period of my greatest hostility toward
Jesus—the period when I eagerly and uncritically accepted
arguments against the existence of the God of the Bible
—coincided exactly with the period of my insistence
that I was the competent master of my own life. Was it that the
arguments were so compelling—or was it that they appealed to my
desire to be the ruler of my own life? I resented God and Jesus
because they represented a threat to my autonomy. Only when my
autonomy failed me did I become open to Jesus’ offer to forgive
me and lead my life. When I humbled myself to admit my failure and
received his offer, I had to vacate the throne—but he has
always used his authority and power for good. Are you willing to
reconsider?

Maybe you are
suspicious of Jesus because other people have used their power to
abuse you. Maybe you decided that you will never again entrust
yourself to anyone so you can’t be hurt that way again. I
sympathize with your reaction—and so does Jesus (who was abused
in this passage). But I beg you consider that Jesus is different
that the people who abused you. You can hold on to your mistrust and
become more and more hard and lonely—or you can choose (I know
it’s scary) to trust Jesus enough to let him come into your
heart and prove his loving and trustworthy intentions.

Then there is the
reaction of the chief priests and scribes. They weren’t
hostile—they were indifferent. This is terrifically
ironic, because they were the spiritual leaders of Israel! They knew
the Old Testament virtually by heart. When Herod told them about the
arrival of the Messiah and asked where he was to be born, they didn’t
have to look it up. But when the fulfillment of the Old Testament
arrives, they didn’t bother to go see him!7

Why didn’t
they drop everything and go to Bethlehem? Probably because they were
busy. Busy with what? Busy with the Temple services, busy with
their lecture on Old Testament messianic prophecy, busy being chief
priests and scribes. None of this was wrong in itself—but when
their focus on these legitimate things made them indifferent to the
most important thing, this is a full-blown tragedy!

Do you know anyone
like this? Have you ever met anyone who got so immersed in and
distracted by good things that they were indifferent to the most
important thing? I was talking to a man not long ago about the fact
that Jesus is real and that he has changed my life in an amazing way.
When I asked him what he thought about this, he wasn’t
hostile. He just said, “Maybe I’ll look into it
later—I’m too busy right now.” He wasn’t a
mobster or pimp—he was busy with good things like family and
career. I thought (but was afraid to say): “What could
possibly be more important than meeting the Messiah? Are you too
busy to receive eternal life? Too busy to discover the meaning of
your existence and the purpose for your life? Too busy to meet God
personally and experience his love?”

Finally, there is
the reaction of the magi. They were humble seekers. They
were looking for the true God. When they got guidance from God, they
acted upon it and got more guidance. And when they found Jesus, they
worshipped him. There is a tremendous irony here as well. These
men, who had the least knowledge about God (lived 100’s miles
away; not part of chosen nation; raised in different religious
tradition), find him—while those who had the most knowledge
didn’t.

Actually, it’s
not so much that they found God as that God took extraordinary
measures to lead them to Jesus. God reached out to them through
their flawed astrological beliefs to give them a sign. God gave them
directions through indifferent priests and scribes while protecting
them from a hostile Herod. He guided them right into Jesus’
personal presence.

He will do the
same for you. When it comes to finding God, the most important
factor is not your upbringing or your Bible knowledge—it’s
your heart attitude. If you are willing to admit your need for God
and tell him you want to know him, he will take extraordinary
measures to lead you to Jesus. There are dozens of
similar stories in this room! See you willing to tell God you want
to find him? If he has taken measures to lead you to Jesus, are you
ready to receive him?

Footnotes

1
“The Greek text does not imply that the star pointed out the
house where Jesus was; it may simply have hovered over Bethlehem as
the Magi approached it.” D. A. Carson, Expositors
Commentary Series.

3
See Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977), Part One,
p. 213.

4
See Michael Molnar, The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi
(Rutgers University Press, 1999). See also his website:
http://www.eclipse.net/~molnar/index.html.

5He
killed all those who had anything to do with the former ruling party
of Israel (Hasmoneans), including several members of that family,
and an entire clan who had supported them (Bnay Baba). When an
overthrow plot was discovered, he not only executed the
ring-leaders, but also had their wives and children tortured to
death. In 7 BC, when 6000 Pharisees refused to take an oath of
allegiance to Rome, he had all of them executed. Since his wife was
a Hasmonean, he killed her. Then he killed all 3 of his sons by her
along with 300 officers. See Ethelbert Stauffer, Jesus and His
Story (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974), pp. 37-40.

6
In 4 BC, when he knew his death was imminent, he ordered all the
prominent men of Israel brought to the Hippodrome at Jericho and
stationed archers around the stadium with orders to shoot them all
the moment news of his death came. Ethelbert Stauffer, Jesus and
His Story, pp. 38,39.

7
One of Matthew’s themes in his gospel is a critique of the
chief priests and scribes for their culpable failure to see in Jesus
the coming of the Messiah. This incident is the first example of
that theme.